Reference Services & Library Activities

With so many people returning to school right now, reference services are needed more than ever. This week, a lady came in needing materials in order to answer a take-home essay test. She is a non-traditional student enrolled in the child education program at a local community college.

The patron's test had six questions and she wanted one reference for each question as back-up for her answers. This was a bit challenging, as it was a sociology course and I had Sociology 101 about sixteen years ago (grimace). Luckily for me, she had brought her text book. Using the text book, I was able to find the right subject terminology to find the reference materials she needed. Hopefully, I managed to get her off to a good start.

Next, she needed to use a computer to type a paper she'd written. One thing concerned me: like many folks around here, this patron had no computer at home and did not appear overly familiar with computers and their accessories. In other words, if something went wrong with the computer, this lady had no way to back up her work. I suggested she get herself a thumb drive and carry with her to save her work. I also told her she might look into Google Docs, which she could access from anywhere with nothing to have to carry with her.

This encounter got me thinking about suggesting that the library offer a class in using Web 2.0 apps. I'll have to speak to Melissa about it when she has a moment next week.

Every month, the local library holds a "Lunching with Books" event, which happened to be this week. The event featured author and illustrator, Laurie Parker, a native of Mississippi. She reviewed her latest book, Garden Alphabet. Parker's medium for her books is collage art. The end result is beautiful.

During the event, Melissa spoke to the audience and explained that the library will hold a community-wide event, "Tupelo Reads." The book of choice is Tuesdays With Morrie. The library has already obtained several copies of the book and will hold several events involving the book.

With the beginning of August coming up, Gamers' night will be here soon (second Monday of every month). I hope to make one some time, I want to see the turn-out for this event as many libraries have reported much success with gaming events.

Until next week, Library Lovers!

Gray matter

Something came up yesterday while I was at the library: a question of what to do with a graphic novel containing an explicit illustration of a sexual act. Naturally, the graphic novel was shelved in the graphic novel section. A mother, whose teen-aged son had picked up the item, objected to its presence among the others where it could be easily accessed by children. She did not demand its removal from the collection, just that it be shelved among adult materials.

This situation reminds me of one I read about on the Banned Books Week’s Facebook profile a couple of months ago. A babysitter objected to a book one of her charges brought home while on her watch. The book was written as an aid for discussion of human sexual reproduction between parents and young children. The book was shelved in the children’s nonfiction section. The babysitter objected to the book’s placement where it was easily accessed by children.

Here’s the sticking point: the aforementioned children’s book was intended for informational and educational use. The same cannot be said for the graphic novel.

Now, before I go on, I emphatically state I am not pointing fingers nor am I crying, “censorship!” However, as a librarian, I fully understand the concerns about obstructing access to materials, even for minors. On the other hand, my responsibilities as a librarian, namely, upholding the Library Bill of Rights as stated by the American Library Association, are at odds with my feelings as a parent.

Do I want my own child easily gaining access to an item with illustrations of sexual acts? No, but, again, the children’s books was informational and merely showed diagrams of the human reproduction system, whereas the graphic novel did contain drawings of people engaging in sex.

As it stands, I objected to the idea of re-shelving the children’s book in an area where kids could not easily access it…but I feel like a hypocrite for understanding why the graphic novel might be shelved elsewhere.

Upon further reflection, I thought of a few points from a collection standpoint:

First, literature is classified with respect to the age of the target audience, hence these classifications: adult literature, juvenile literature, and young adult literature. Are graphic novels classified according to the age of the target audience? If the answer is yes, then why would they not be shelved according to target audience's age? I have the sense the majority of people who are more familiar with the term, comic books, may view graphic novels as literature for kids. Those of us who are graphic novel fans know better. I remember similar reactions towards animated movies; parents would take their children to see them and react with horror at the violent and sexually explicit content. This, despite the fact that the movie rating was PG-13 or even R.

Second, is it really necessary to shelve graphic novels separately? What are they other than literature with more illustrations? With respect to the industry (and a huge fan of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series), I understand that they are a different format but I question the emphasis on the difference. From the standpoint of equality, I wonder if they should be shelved with other books. For those librarians out there, you will recognize the term, "serendipitous browsing." A patron who is searching the stacks for a specific item may find another he/she likes better. Why not shelve graphic novels with books? A patron who is not otherwise a graphic novel fan may become interested enough to check out the item.

Back to the original problem: re-shelving the item in a place not easily found by children. Is it censorship? In short, yes, it is a form of censorship. However, if a young patron should find the item anyway, no librarian (who fully understands patrons' rights, that is) will prevent that person from checking it out. Bottom line, it is the parents' responsibility to monitor what their child(ren) is bringing home from the library.

I almost didn't write this post. This is not a comfortable topic but I learned a while back that it's good to step outside your comfort zone. I am hoping that I will get some responses to this post. I am curious to see what others have to say about it.

Two days a week

This week, I started volunteering two days a week. I got a chance to speak to Vicky, the Teen Services Librarian, about my ideas for using barcodes. I was thinking we could use them to spotlight specific awards and showcase any of the winners or honorable mentions in the library's holdings. We could also think about speaking with local teachers to create lists of Web sites relevant to school curricula and use the barcodes in the library for the students to access the lists via smartphone.

Out of curiosity, I checked an online database for some similar ideas other libraries have tried using these barcodes. I found out this new interactive media is called "augmented reality." I hope to have a chance to read these articles soon and share them with Vicky and Melissa.

I created a list of ideas using Google Docs and shared it with Vicky. Speaking of, I also wondered about teaching the use of Google Apps to local teens. The local school system is giving laptops to each student, beginning about middle school. Teaching the students cloud computing might be a great way of inspiring some great group projects.

In the meantime, I got to work the reference desk, again. I absolutely love working reference. I cannot stand to let a patron walk away empty-handed. Even if I can't help them find what they want, I push Inter-library Loan. Hopefully, this will keep them coming back.

I find it interesting that teens are reluctant to ask for help. One young lady came in looking for a vampire series. All copies were checked out. I made a point of telling her that she can use her library card to place a hold on an item she wants online from her home computer. Once that item becomes available, someone would call her. She seemed to like that idea.

Likewise, an older gentleman was looking for a specific author. The library didn't seem to have any holdings. He mentioned that he had received a book written by this author and it contained a list of the author's other works. I suggested he bring the book back on his next visit and the library could try to obtain them through ILL. He liked that suggestion.

That's all for this week. Until next time, Library Lovers.

July 6, 2011

OK, I'm late posting this blog but things tend to get away from me at home with the kids. :)

Last, week I had an idea: using Neoreader, I created a code linked to the 2011 Pura Belpre Award winners. The Pura Belpre Award, which falls under the Association of Library Services to Children, a division of the American Library Association, is given to Latin American writers and illustrators.

I thought that during Hispanic-American History Month, Lee Co. Library could showcase some of its holdings which are Pura Belpre Award winners or at least honorable mentions along with a sign containing a code linking to the Web site for a complete list of past winners. Interested patrons could request titles through Inter-library Loan.

However, it seems to me that there's so much more that could be done with these codes: using Google Docs or Sites, we could create an "information scavenger hunt." Groups of children can be paired with an adult who has a smartphone in order to find the codes throughout the library. The codes will link to a question and a clue where to find the answer. The answers would be found using reference materials found in the library. I'm sure the library could come up with some little prizes for the winners.

Also, I'd like attempt to work with local teachers to get an idea of what subject matter they are teaching. Librarians could carefully find and select relevant Web sites, add the links into a Google Docs document, and then link the document to a code.

Additionally, the library could create a list of recommended children's books for the summer reading program to include both fiction and nonfiction. Naturally, the list would include titles from award programs, such as Newbery, Caldecott, and the Orbis Pictus Award lists.

I pitched the idea to Melissa at the library; she loved it. This week, I'll be sharing some of the ideas with Vicky, the Teen Librarian.